Why Me?
by BOOKWORM405
Summary: Zafrina never planned on falling for the founder of Metal City's son, Huan BeiFong. Nor did he expect to fall for a girl he didn't have intentions to like.
1. Chapter 1

**(3** **rd** **Person P.O.V.)**

A reserved, young girl by the age of seventeen sat under a tree. She was sketching out the scene in front of her: A family eating on a bench; a water fountain modeled like the city's founder, Suyin BeiFong; a group of young boys playing a game that involved earth bending; and two young girls taking a walk and talking.

This girl went by the name Zafrina. She had silky, long, dark brown hair and tanned skin. Zafrina had lived in Zaofu with her family since she was born. She was lucky enough to inherit earth/metal bending powers from her father, unlike her mother who was a nonbender. Her grandmother lived with them ever since her husband died when Zafrina was six years old. Zafrina had no siblings, but she wished she did.

Zafrina's father worked as a policeman on the police force in Metal City, while her mother worked in a small restaurant and her grandmother stayed home. Zafrina's eighteenth birthday was just three days away. She didn't want to do anything special, but her father surprised her.

 **(Huan's P.O.V.)**

I was out in the courtyard, building some structures out of metal, when my mother, Su, came walking through with my father, Baatar Sr. and one of the policeman from the force who occasionally guarded my home; tonight being one those 'occasions'.

The trio were chatting noisily and laughing loudly. It kept distracting my train of thought, thus resulting in me to bend the metal left instead of right.

"Urgh… Mother, father, could you _please_ be a bit quieter?" I glowered at them. Mother sighed.

"Well I'm _so sorry_ ," she said sarcastically.

"Aoi, you remember my son, Huan, right? You met him when he was just a toddler. I'm sure you've seen him wandering around."

"Yes, yes," the man in metal armor chuckled in a deep voice. "You've gotten quite tall. How old are you now?"

"Eighteen," I mumbled

"Oh! My daughter, Zafrina, is turning eighteen in a few days time. It's crazy to think that just yesterday she was learning how to bend," Aoi chuckled solemnly.

"I know exactly how you feel." My father patted him on the shoulder.

"I remember Zafrina. The last I saw of her was when she was ten! How is she and your wife?" Mother asked Aoi.

I tried to continue my sculpting, but failed due to me listening in on their conversation.

"They're all just fine. Zafrina's been quiet as usual. Kim is acting as spunky as ever. I don't know how Zafrina's our child; we're both too loud and crazy to be her parents!" Aoi laughed. Mother and father laughed along with him. Suddenly, mother had her 'I-got-an-idea' face.

"I've got it! How about you bring your family over on Zafrina's birthday and we can all have a big dinner and have desert, hm?" Mother offered.

I shot mother a look saying 'No! Are you kidding me?!' She knew ignored my glaring expression and just smiled mockingly.

"That is very generous of you, but I must decline. I don't want to intrude," Aoi explained. I sighed internally.

"But we insist! We'd love to have you over," father said. I groaned.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," mother stated.

"All right then, great, thank you. I'll have my family over at sundown in three days."

"Perfect!" Mother beamed. I groaned again and hung my head. Mother walked over and whispered: "I think you'll like this girl. She's a lot like you."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever," I grumbled, then continued my work.

 **(Zafrina's P.O.V.)**

It was the day of my birthday, and no one made a big surprise, thank goodness. I was back from the market with a few bags of groceries when father entered the house.

"Hey, Zafrina! Be ready before sundown, we're having dinner with the BeiFongs," father rushed. I dropped the bags, causing the apples to roll out and a small melon to split in half.

"What? You promised you wouldn't do anything big for my birthday!" I exclaimed.

"Who said the dinner was for you?" father said. I glared at him.

"Okay, yeah, it's for you."

"Dad-"

"Look, it's your eighteenth birthday. This is special to your mother and me." My father placed his hands on my shoulders. "You're not my little girl anymore…"

"Dad," I groaned. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but-"

"No buts'. Su BeiFong and her husband Baatar Sr. invited us personally. Su wanted to do it for your birthday. You remember her, you were ten when you met her," father explained.

"Ergh… Fine," I sighed.

"Good! Now-"

"Ah!" My mother came from the hall. "What is this mess?!" she shrieked. "Clean it up, now."

"Okay." I bent down and picked up the bags.

"Not you, honey. I meant your father. You need to get ready for an important dinner," mother beamed.

"You knew about it, too?!"

"Yes, so does your grandmother. She's getting ready. Now c'mon, you need to get washed up and dressed." Mother pulled me into the washroom.

After half an hour, I was ready for this 'supposed' important birthday dinner. My hair was pulled into a bun with two sections of hair framing my face. I had on a long, satin, pale-green dress that had long, loose sleeves and a high collar. Mother placed some rose dust on my cheeks, and nothing else after I refused any more face paint.

Mother was dressed in a dress like mine, except the green was as shade darker and she had no sleeves. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a long braid, and had more face paint than me. Grandmother was dressed in a very dark green dress that had long sleeves and a collar, too. Her gray hair was braided and pulled back into a bun- which had a green, studded clip on the side. Father wore a traditional suit that was the same shade as mother's dress.

"You look beautiful." Mother teared up.

"Mother, don't cry," I tried consoling her.

"I'm sorry; you're just so grown up." I chuckled at her words.

"Thanks."

"Here," my grandmother handed me a small box.

"Hm?" I quirked my head.

"It was mine, but now it's yours." I opened the box to find a silver hair clip with a glass, pink lily with a glass leaf on each side of it. I gasped.

"Grandmother…it's beautiful. Thank you." I hugged her.

"You're welcome. Now put it in," grandmother ushered.

Mother reached and helped me put it in my bun.

"Does it look good?" I meekly asked.

"Wonderful," my father smiled. "We must be going now, or we'll be late."

"You can get your present from your father and me afterwards," mother said. I nodded.

After going past the security guards, we walked up to the big double-doors. Father pressed a button on a speaker contraption. It buzzed.

"It's Aoi Satoshi," my father spoke. I stood behind my parents, a bit nervous. The big doors opened.

"Aoi! So nice to have you." Baatar Sr. gripped my father's hand in a shake, followed by a hug.

"Thank you for having us."

"My pleasure. Please, come in," Baatar stood aside and gestured for us to come inside.

My grandmother and parents went in, I trailed slowly behind them. I'd never been in the BeiFong home before; it was so big and luxurious. Baatar Sr. led the way, where we went right, down a hallway. We then stopped in front of double-doors, averaged size this time. Two guards stood in front of them.

"'Evening," my father nodded, most likely knowing them. They nodded back. Both of them opened the doors; I heard chatter suddenly stop.

"Aoi! Kim!" I heard a light voice call.

"How nice to see you! And you too, Hazel," the voice spoke to my grandmother. Everyone one walked into the room, the guards shut the doors behind us.

"Where's Zafrina?" I heard the voice ask. I still kept my head down and stood behind my father's tall figure.

"Zafrina, come now, no need to be shy," father chuckled lightly. I stepped out from behind him and looked up.

"Um… Hello," I smiled weakly to Su.

Her family stood behind/beside her. I saw a girl, probably sixteen or seventeen, with short, brown hair and bright green eyes standing on one side of Su. It was Opal, from what I've been told before. A young man, who looked just like Baatar, stood behind him. Then a pair of twins stood behind Opal, smiling with excitement. And a guy, about my age maybe, stood with a blank expression staring off into space.

"Look how much you've grown!" Su came up to me and hugged me, I hugged back.

"Would you all like a seat? Dinner will be ready shortly," Su explained. My family and I sat down on one green couch, while Su, her husband, and Opal sat. Her sons stood.

"Zafrina, this is Opal, my daughter."

"Hi," she waved. I nodded to show I acknowledged her.

"This is my husband, Baatar Sr., which I'm sure you already know. This is Baatar Jr." Su looked back at the young man behind her, who looked just like Baatar Sr. I gave a small smile.

"This is Wei," Su gestured to one of the twins whom gave me a big smile, "and this is Wing." The other twin did the same. I smiled to them, too.

"And this here is Huan." The guy she gestured to was tall and lanky. He had long, very dark brown hair, but half his head was shaved. His hair covered his right eye. He had an eyebrow piercing in his left eyebrow. Huan gazed over at me, then looked away.

"Anyway," Su tried to get rid of the awkward silence. "How are things for you, Zafrina?"

"Just fine," I said. More silence.

"So, I remember you telling me Opal gained airbending abilities?" My father piped up.

"Oh, yes, it's really exciting," Baatar Sr. said.

"Yeah! Avatar Korra is supposed to be here and help me with airbending soon!" Opal exclaimed with bright eyes. With this, I was slightly intrigued.

My parents, grandmother, Su, and her family started to get into conversations. They were discussing things, like about the somewhat recent event of the Harmonic Convergence, the new airbender population, and whatnot. I sat quietly, though, along with Huan who stood motionless.

I tried to look around the room and not make direct eye contact with anybody. These were all nice people, but honestly, I just wanted to go home and draw.

 **(Huan's P.O.V.)**

Everyone else talked except for the Zafrina girl and me. To be honest, she was…different. I haven't even talked to her yet, but I'm already intrigued. She's quiet and reserved. That and she's very pretty. Wait, what? Ugh… What I meant was she seems mysterious. She seems different from others…

Zafrina must've sensed me looking at her, because she looked up at me with her pale blue eyes. Her face reddened and she looked away. I felt my own face flush and looked away, too. I glowered at my feet, a bit upset at myself for being distracted by some stranger.

There was the opening of one of the doors. In which my mother's advisor, Aiwei, entered.

"Dinner is ready, Mrs. BeiFong," he said.

"Thank you, Aiwei," mother said. "Aiwei, I believe you've met Aoi already. This is his family; his wife Kim, his mother Hazel, and daughter Zafrina."

"Hello, nice to meet you all," Aiwei bowed slightly.

"Aiwei is my advisor," mother told the guests.

"Well let's go eat now," father said. Everyone happily complied and followed Aiwei to the dining room. My family and Zafrina's family took lead, except for my twin brothers, Zafrina (sort of), and I. Wing and Wei stood on either side of me while Zafrina walked in front of us.

"She's cute, eh?" Wei nudged me and he and Wing chuckled. I rolled my eyes at their immaturity.

When entering upon the dining room, my mother and father took their seats at the head of our oddly shaped table. My brothers, sister, and I sat on one of part of the table, while the Satoshi's sat at the other table facing us. Aiwei took his place next to Aoi. The waiters automatically came out of the kitchen with dishes of food and sat them on the surface of the connected tables like they typically would.

"Hem-hem," mother coughed. "I'd like to make a toast." She and the rest of us grabbed our glasses and raised them.

"I'd like to make a toast to Zafrina," she started. "You, Zafrina, are a very wonderful, beautiful young woman. I know we have not talked often, but I know you'll do something good with your future. You only turn eighteen once, so let us celebrate. To Zafrina."

"To Zafrina," I chorused along with everyone else.

 **(Zafrina's P.O.V.)**

"To Zafrina," I heard everyone say.

I nodded in appreciation for Su's small speech. She responded with a smile. I looked down at my plate to see bits of pork- covered in a brown sauce with a variety of vegetables and rice on the side. Once trying a bite, it was very exquisite. It must be nice to eat like a king/queen every day.

"This is very delicious, I must pay my compliments to the chef," my father commented. My mother and grandmother nodded in agreement. Baatar Sr. chuckled.

"Yes, he is very talented in his work."

"So, Zafrina, how's it feel to be eighteen now? It must be so nice, I can't wait until I'm eighteen," Opal said to me.

"Oh… Well, it's okay, I guess. I mean, it's nothing extravagant. At least to me, it isn't," I finished quietly.

"Are you kidding me?! Wing and I are turning eighteen in just a couple of weeks, and we can't wait!" Wei exclaimed.

"Yeah! Once we're eighteen, we'll be able to do a lot of more things without our parent's permission," Wing said smugly.

"And who said that?" Su raised an eyebrow. Everyone began laughing. After the laughing died down, father spoke up again.

"Baatar Jr., Huan, you're both at least eighteen or older, right? Perhaps you could try talking to Zafrina about different career options, or give her advice on the importance of becoming an adult." I groaned under my breath, not wanting to deal with this.

"Well it's very nice, to have more freedom as you become older, but it's certainly not easier, either. You're expected of a lot more, too. More responsibilities to deal with. And-" Baatar Jr. was cut off by Huan.

"What do you mean by 'more responsibilities'? You're twenty-one years old and still stay home. I don't see you doing anything impressive or important with your life."

"Hey! I've been working with dad on architecture and plans for the city and possibly an expansion. But what about you, hm? All you ever do is build your useless sculptures and sulk around!" Baatar Jr. retorted.

"Hey! Both of you. That. Is. Enough." Su stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "You both know better than to act like children. And here you are, going at it like your Ant Lin and grandmother would, in front of guests! I expected more from the two of you," Su finished angrily.

"I'm sorry, mother, I should've known better," Baatar Jr. apologized.

"Sorry, mom…" Huan mumbled.

"Thank you," Su said. She then turned to my family and me. "I'm so very sorry. This was meant to be a nice celebration for you, Zafrina," Su directed to me.

"It's okay, really." I raised a hand in understanding.

After finishing dinner and dessert with no more quarrels, Su offered to show us around the courtyard and garden. My mother was very eager about that. As we walked through the gigantic courtyard, we came across a corner of it filled with sculptures made of metal. Were these the ones Baatar Jr. was talking about earlier?

"This is where Huan works on his sculptures," Opal said. I looked at the different sculptures, a bit fascinated by the creative idea of using metal for art. I have seen others do the same, but Huan's was…different. It stood out to me more than the others, neither in a bad nor good way. Just unique.

I hadn't realized that the group walked ahead until I heard someone clear their throat. I whipped my head around to see Huan standing there with his hands behind his back; giving me a curious look. I awkwardly cleared my throat and wiped away the imaginary dust on my dress.

With no words being exchanged, we went ahead and caught up with the group. Huan and I made no more eye contact nor spoke to each other directly for the rest of the evening. I don't know what it was, but there was something that was between Huan and me.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Zafrina's P.O.V.)**

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully. I don't know what I was thinking when I actually thought there was something between Huan and I. _Stupid…_

"Zafrina," I heard my mother call.

"Could you go buy me some things, please?" Mother handed me a list of things needed and a pouch of coins.

"Sure."

"Thank you."

Reading over the list as I walked to the market, I found that my mom needed eggs, rice grains, cabbage, and some herbal spices of some sort. As I wasn't paying attention, I ran into someone.

"Oof- I'm sorry, I didn't see where I was going," I apologized. But as I said this, I saw that the person I ran into was Opal.

"Zafrina! It's all right," Opal beamed. "Where were you planning on going?"

"The market. Need some stuff," I waved the list lightly.

"Oh! Well I'll come with you, if that's alright?"

"Um, yeah, sure," I smiled.

"Great." We then walked to the market in somewhat silence. Opal would say something and I would just listen and nod. It's not that I wasn't paying attention, I just didn't really have anything to say.

After half an hour, I retrieved the items my mother needed and ventured back home with Opal at my side. Upon entering my house, Opal stopped at the door.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked politely.

"If that's alright," Opal said meekly.

"Yeah," I smiled. She then walked in.

"Mom!" I called as I sat the bags down on the dining table. "We have company!"

"Who?" My mother came out from the hall. "Oh! Opal, honey, how great to see you!"

"You, too, Mrs. Satoshi," Opal nodded.

"Please, call me Kim," mother said.

"Would you like something to eat or drink, Opal?" I offered.

"No, thank you. I'm fine," she said. "I was going to head home, if you'd like to come. We can just hang out," Opal offered this time.

"Oh, um…" My mother shot me an urging look. "Yeah, that sounds cool," I shrugged.

"Great! Let's go!"

Opal and I walked to her house.

"So… What were you doing earlier? Before I ran into you," I asked.

"I was just walking around. I like to take walks around the area," Opal explained. I nodded in understanding.

When we reached Opal's home, a guard opened one of the big double-doors for us.

"Thank you," Opal and I said at the same time. We looked at each other and giggled.

Opal started walking down the hall to the left this time, and I followed.

"Where are we going?" I asked her.

"To one of the lounging rooms, if you'd like." I nodded. We walked and stopped at the second to the last door on our right, where Opal slid the door open for me.

"Thanks," I said and walked into the room. It was very spacious and…clean. I sniffed the air and smelled Jasmines.

"Those are our essence oils giving off the smell. Lovely, isn't it?" Opal said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Do you want to play a game?" Opal gestured to a game board that held small squares on the table.

"I've never played," I said, a bit embarrassed.

"Not a lot have. It's sort of new. It's really fun! I can teach you," Opal said excitedly.

"Okay." We both sat down on the cushions on the ground in front of the small, round table.

"What's it called?" I inquired.

"Jumping Sakuras." I choked on nothing .

"Jumping Sakuras?"

"Yes, I know it sounds silly. But it's fun, really." Opal started. "This is how you play: You have your squares, and I have mine. We have to move one piece at a time and take turns. If we have pieces next to each other or diagonally aligned, one of us-whoever's turn it is- can move their own piece over the other's, then take the piece aside. Whoever has no pieces left, loses," Opal explained.

"Oh, that seems easy," I said.

"Yeah, ready to play?"

"Mhm."

Opal and I played Jumping Sakuras for the next hour. So far, Opal had won four games and I won three. She was right, the game was very entertaining. But as we were in the middle of one game, the door slid open.

"Opal- Oh, hello, Zafrina. What a surprise," Baatar Jr. said.

"Hello," I said back.

"I brought her over to hang out. We ran into each other on her way to the market, literally!" Opal explained as Baatar and I chuckled.

"I was coming to tell you that lunch was ready. Would you like to join us, Zafrina?" Baatar asked.

"Sure. Thank you," I got up and followed Opal.

Opal, Baatar, and I walked to the dining room where the rest of the BeiFong family sat, already eating and talking. But when they saw me, they went quiet.

"Zafrina! What are you doing here?" Su asked politely.

"I asked her to come over an hour ago. She's joining us for lunch, if that's all right," Opal explained.

"Of course! Please, Zafrina, take a seat wherever you'd like," Su gestured to the seats, where her family sat among randomly.

"You can sit next to me if you want," Opal sat on the right side.

"Sure." I followed and sat beside her just as someone sat in the other seat next to me.

"Hm? Oh…" Huan raised his pierced eyebrow questioningly at Su.

"Zafrina is having lunch with us today. Opal invited her."

"Right…" he mumbled. Just then, a waiter placed a plate in front of me.

"Thank you," I said and started eating.

As we all ate, the BeiFong family discussed different matters.

"Opal, don't forget Avatar Korra and her companions are supposed to be here in about two days," Baatar Sr. said.

"Don't worry, I won't forget," Opal said from beside me.

"How's the food?" Opal turned to me as her parents talked to Baatar Jr. and the twins.

"It's really good," I told her.

"Yeah, it's my favorite dish."Opal continued to stuff her face with fish and rice happily.

"Geez, Opal, could you be any more of a hippocow?" Huan scoffed.

"And could you be any more of a depressed flying lemur?" Opal retorted through her full mouth. I giggled a little at this statement. I looked slightly to my right to see Huan glaring at his food and stabbing his food violently each time he took a bite.

"What did the food ever do to you…?" I muttered.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"Well you're being unnecessarily violent to your food." I raised my eyebrows as I spoke.

"Mmm…" Huan growled slightly.

"You're sister was right…" I mumbled.

That was the last word between us for the rest of lunch. After finishing though, Opal asked if I'd like to go outside. I responded with a, "Sure."

She then led me outside to the courtyard where we were about to have a bending match for fun. But we were interrupted once again.

"Hey, Opal, mom and dad want to talk to you for a minute," one of the twins said.

"Ugh, okay. I'll be right back," Opal excused herself. Once she left, the twin who came to get her walked forward to me.

"I'm Wei, if you forgot," he chuckled. "Do you bend?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Want to spar? For fun of course," he asked.

"Sure." We both got a few feet away from one another and got into our stances. We nodded a 'go'.

I immediately threw rocks Wei's way, which he easily dodged. He stomped- where a wall of rock came up. He pushed it forward my way which I dodged, too. After two minutes, we both used metal and it got rougher. I got hit three times and managed to hit Wei two times with rock. He got a big boulder of rock and threw it my way. I was about to dodge it, but slipped and fell. The boulder was about to crush on top of me when it was mashed to bits and pebbles. The debris crumbled over me just a bit. I looked over to see Huan getting out of a stance.

"That is why you musn't be so rough, little brother," Huan said.

"Well I didn't mean to! You know that, right, Zafrina?" Wei rushed.

"Yeah, I'm all right, really. But thank you for stopping the boulder anyway, Huan." I bowed my thanks.

"Yeah…" was his only response. He then slipped away to his area of the courtyard.

 **(Huan's P.O.V.)**

Honestly, I have no idea as to why I stopped the boulder from crushing Zafrina. She probably would've been okay. But I didn't want to take any chances.

I decided to walk around our maze of a garden. The Venus McRoses were in full bloom. A few dragon-bees flying around. Nothing else. Besides the occasional guard or two. But besides that as well, it was calm and there were no disturbances.

Zaofu was a calm and crime-free city. My mother was the founder of the city. It made sense, seeing as to how she wanted peace. I never really knew why, though. But I guess it had something to do between her, ant Lin, and grandmother Togh. Mother wouldn't really go into full detail with the situation, saying how she prefers to forget about the past.

I wandered around aimlessly for the next half hour before making my way inside my home. I walked through the halls and stopped at a regular door- not one that slides open. I opened the door and entered open my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

My room was spacious, as were all the other rooms in this house. My bed sat against the wall opposite of the door. There were two windows that gave me a view outside to our courtyard. I walked over to one of them and looked out. My little sister, Opal, and one of the twins- Wing, I suppose- were having a bending match. While Zafrina and Wei served as spectators. Wei was saying something to Zafrina and she laughed. I couldn't hear anything, obviously, since they were far away. But I presumed that Zafrina had a light, infectious laugh.

Wei was standing a little closer to Zafrina and said something into her ear, causing her to laugh even more. Wei grinned as he laughed along with her. I suddenly felt a hot flash go through my stomach and reach the back of my neck, making it feel warm. I felt a little…mad? I shook the feeling away, not quite knowing why I was feeling the way I was.

 **( Wei's P.O.V.)**

After making jokes about my twin and my other two brothers- causing Zafrina to let out an infectious laugh- Opal and Wing finished their match. It was then that Zafrina said something, interrupting the pants escaping Opal and Wing's mouths.

"It was really nice being over, but I think I should head home now. It's getting to be into the dinner hours, and I don't want to be out late," Zafrina explained.

"Oh, okay, it was great having you over! You should come over more often!" Opal exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's way more fun," I added, Wing nodding in agreement.

"Maybe," Zafrina gave a small smile to us. "Thank you for your hospitality and letting me stay over."

"It's no problem," Opal beamed.

"I'll walk you to the door," I said to Zafrina. She nodded slightly.

"Bye," Opal and Wing said in unison to Zafrina.

"Bye," she waved.

I walked through the courtyard and into the house.

"You definitely should come over again some time," I said, breaking the silence.

"Maybe," Zafrina replied with again.

I then decided to say a few jokes, making Zafrina laugh once more. It was contagious, making me laugh along with her. We walked around the corner, coming to a stop when we saw my dad and brother, Huan, talking.

"Hello, Zafrina," dad said warmly.

"Hello," she said back. I noticed her look down at her feet when making eye-contact with Huan.

"What are you two up to?" Huan asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," I shrugged. "Just walking Zafrina to the door. She's on her way home."

"Oh, well come back soon, surely, Zafrina. It's great having your company," father started. "Also, that's convenient, because I was actually having Huan about to walk into town to drop some blueprints off for me at the City Hall, since Baatar Jr. is busy. Huan can walk you home, Zafrina."

 **(Zafrina's P.O.V.)**

"…Huan can walk you home, Zafrina," Baatar Sr. said.

I snapped my head up to look at him the same time Huan jerked his head to the side to look at him, too. What was I suppose to say? 'No'? I couldn't possibly; it'd be rude of me.

"O-okay," I muttered.

"Great, well, I'll see you back in a bit, Huan. And good evening, Zafrina. I hope you have a good night," Baatar said.

"The same to you," I said. Baatar then walked away with Wei, Wei waving at me and saying, "Later, Zafrina! Hope to see you soon," he winked. My cheeks flushed a little.

I think Huan may have noticed, because he let out a cough, grumbling incoherent words under his breath. He then started to walk away with blueprints in his arms, so I followed him. He came to a halt to the front double-doors. Huan held one of the doors open for me, which I mumbled a 'thanks'.

He closed the door behind himself once stepping out. I started to walk the way home, with Huan on my trail. I looked back every couple of minutes to see if Huan was still following me- which he was. About ten minutes into the walk, Huan made his way closely to my side after we entered the crowded area of town. Everyone was making last errand-runs and people were going in and out of restaurants. Children played games, covered in dirt, and being called inside for dinner and to wash up.

A burly man bumped into me, almost making me topple over in the process; Huan grabbed my hand tightly to help me stay upright. The burly man muttered a 'sorry' and went on his way. Huan continued to hold onto my hand as we maneuvered through the crowd. We eventually made it past, and Huan had yet to remove his hand from mine.

It felt oddly comforting and I didn't want him to remove his hand from mine. A few young women walked past us and looked at our grasped hands, pointing and giggling. I heard them as they passed by.

"Aw, aren't they just cute together?"

"I know! They're adorable. I wonder how long they've been dating?"

"Wait, I'm pretty sure that's Huan BeiFong, Suyin BeiFong's son! And I think that's the Satoshi's daughter- Zafrina…!"

I ducked my head as I felt my cheeks warm up. I looked through the corner of my eye to see the back of Huan's neck redden, along with the tips of his ears. He yanked his hand out of mine. My hand instantly felt…empty.

There was a silence between the two of us as I continued to lead the way to my house. After about five minutes, we made it to my destination.

"Um, thank you, for walking me home," I said, looking up at him. Huan looked up with a blank face.

"You're welcome," he said, nodding.

"Uh- bye," I rushed, before walking inside the house and slamming the door behind me accidently. _Smooth._

My face felt like it was on fire. I walked briskly to the hall, but my mother stopped me as I passed by the kitchen.

"Zafrina, how was your time over at Opal's? Did you have fun?" Mother asked, pausing from cutting up some carrots that were most likely for tonight's dinner. Grandmother sat beside my mother at the table and was cutting some potatoes.

"Yeah," I answered. "Look, I'm not feeling too well. I'm going to lie down for a bit."

"Alright… Are you sick?" Mother asked, worry in her tone.

"No, just a bit of a headache is all," I lied. Mother nodded and I walked to my room, closing the door behind me.

I plopped face-down into my bed, groaning slightly. I sat up, brushing my hair out of my face, sighing a little. I reached over to my bedside table and grabbed my sketchbook and pencils. I flipped open the book to a blank page and began to sketch.

My hand wandered on its own and sketched out swift lines, creating a jaw, then complete head. Followed by some hair, eyes, and an eerily familiar eyebrow piercing… I dropped my pencil down quickly and gazed down at the quick-sketch that looked almost exactly like Huan BeiFong.


End file.
